Ten fun facts about Charles-Augustin de Coulomb

Fact 1
He was best known for developing Coulomb's law, the definition of the electrostatic force of attraction and repulsion.

Fact 2
The SI unit of electric charge, the coulomb, was named after him.

Fact 3
Coulomb graduated in November 1761 from École royale du génie de Mézières.

Fact 4
He discovered an inverse relationship of the force between electric charges and the square of its distance, later named after him as Coulomb's law.

Fact 5
Coulomb leaves a legacy as a pioneer in the field of geotechnical engineering for his contribution to retaining wall design.

Fact 6
His name is one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.

Fact 7
Coulomb explained the laws of attraction and repulsion between electric charges and magnetic poles, although he did not find any relationship between the two phenomena. He thought that the attraction and repulsion were due to different kinds of fluids.

Fact 8
Charles de Coulomb enrolled in military school in 1759, graduating from the Royal Engineering School of Mézières in 1761.

Fact 9
He also developed the inverse square law of attraction and repulsion of unlike and like magnetic poles.

Fact 10
Coulomb extensively worked on friction of machinery, the elasticity of metal and silk fibers and windmills.

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